Friday, January 14, 2011

Have you ever asked that question and received nothing but silence? Did you ever wish there was a book in the Bible with a chapter called Operating instructions for (enter your name here) just so you had direction for your life?

Okay, so maybe I’m alone. But the past year has brought me to my knees several times asking that very question. Lord, what do you want me to do? I have questioned everything including (as some of my Ponderer friends know) whether I should be writing or not. If there is anything I want to be – it is to be in God’s will. I don’t want to step in front of the Almighty and have him say – you should have done . . .

Then one day I felt overwhelmed beyond description. The only thing I could ask of God was to let me sit in his lap and have him hold me. I could feel his fatherly arms surround me and his words penetrated my very being . . . Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” as if unto me. (The latter part is not part of Ecclesiastes, but it was there all the same.)

He had finally answered by question.

Now that the New Year is upon us, I have but only one resolution – whatever I do, I will do it for God. As long as he is first in my life, and I do it for his glory, the list of what I can accomplish is endless!

So I challenge you as you approach the New Year and your list of resolutions (or look at the ones you've already tossed aside), instead of doing them grudgingly, lift up your head and do them as unto God. Our Savior, our Lord, and our friend. And do them with all the strength you possess. You just might finally be able to say you were able to keep a resolution past the first week of January!

13 comments:

Jennie, this post hits me right in the heart today because there's one aspect of my day job I've been doing so grudgingly. I'm putting steps in place to make that part of my job a lot easier. Sometimes we feel like we have to be able to do it all without help from others because that shows our weaknesses. When we are weak, He is strong. When we are weak, our friends hold us up!

Jennie, I can just see us as Ponderers lifting a heavy unmanageable log of whatever each other's burden is, but working together in prayer and encouragement to lift it more easily TOGETHER.Good post. Strength and blessings to you and husband as you're there lifting together.

Oh, Jennie, thank you so much for this post. I truly needed it right now. The meds I take for trigimenal neuritis have made me feel like I'm dragging the log in your photo. lol So...since I'm supposed to be writing, that's what I will do and I will do it as unto the Lord!

Hey Jennie - I'm late commenting on your post! My favorite thing about the post: the photo! Okay, totally kidding. Though I have stared at it for at least a full minute trying to figure out what exactly those dudes are attempting with the log...:)

No, but seriously, wonderful post! So encouraging! And I hope it encouraged you as you wrote it. Your resolution is perfect and I'm making it my own as well. Blessings, friend!

Love that verse!And whenever I think of Ecclesiastes 9:10, my thoughts immediately go to Colossians 3:23-24 - "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

Together, these verses remind me to do my best at writing and everything else in life, and leave the results to the Lord. (Although that's easier said than done sometimes!)